"I think he is a great manager," Nasri told Sky Sports News.
"He proved himself with Villarreal. At Real Madrid as well, even though he didn't win the title, they finished with 96 points. And at Malaga too.

"All his teams play attractive football and I think that's what people want to see.

"You pay for a ticket to go to football to see something great and he's the kind of manager who can do it."

City left-back Gael Clichy, meanwhile, has told the Sun of his surprise at seeing Mancini leave the club, but accepts they have under-performed this season.

He said: "We have to be honest and say we didn't perform well this year. We started the season sloppily and finished sloppily.

"It's the first time a manager has been axed while I've been at a club, so it's a bit of a shock and if you look at his record it's hard to understand.

"But he's the manager and you have to take responsibility. When results are good it's all down to the manager. When the results are not so good, it's also down to him.

"We have to be aware he was probably at fault for this. The chairman made the decision, you have to respect it."